"El Tesorillo"

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"El Tesorillo"

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machopicasso

Posts: 973
Joined: Nov. 27 2010

"El Tesorillo"

The "tientos" on Cositas Buenas is the most interesting I've heard in that palo. But if asked, I would struggle to explain why it's correctly classified as such. So, two questions:

1. What makes "El Tesorillo" a tientos? (E.g. where exactly in the song can one hear the tientos elements?)

2. Has anyone ever used material from this song for dance accompaniment por tientos?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 9 2023 19:29:47

Ricardo

Posts: 14825
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: "El Tesorillo" (in reply to machopicasso)

quote:

ORIGINAL: machopicasso

The "tientos" on Cositas Buenas is the most interesting I've heard in that palo. But if asked, I would struggle to explain why it's correctly classified as such. So, two questions:

1. What makes "El Tesorillo" a tientos? (E.g. where exactly in the song can one hear the tientos elements?)

2. Has anyone ever used material from this song for dance accompaniment por tientos?

My friend Ben Woods blew my mind 20 years ago when this question was asked. He had the insight to recognize the CANTE MELODY in Paco’s first falseta, the clear indicator despite a cantaor singing something different that he composed for the same track.

The piece is problematic because he utilizes an unusual altered tuning that was only used previously on two other pieces: Piñonate (bulerias, but standard 6th string) and Cañada (tangos, where the same tuning drops 6th to A like this Tientos). I would need to use a different guitar to incorporate the concept….same goes for even on of my own pieces that uses a drop B 6th. In a live situation it is not practical. However, now you have 3 palos to listen to that have a similar “aire” due to the guitar tuning.

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CD's and transcriptions available here:
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 9 2023 23:06:13

machopicasso

Posts: 973
Joined: Nov. 27 2010

RE: "El Tesorillo" (in reply to machopicasso)

quote:

My friend Ben Woods blew my mind 20 years ago when this question was asked. He had the insight to recognize the CANTE MELODY in Paco’s first falseta, the clear indicator despite a cantaor singing something different that he composed for the same track.

That's fascinating. Are there any other "indicators" that mark this song as a tientos? Or is the cante melody in the first falseta the only one?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Sep. 10 2023 4:38:27

Ricardo

Posts: 14825
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: "El Tesorillo" (in reply to machopicasso)

quote:

ORIGINAL: machopicasso

quote:

My friend Ben Woods blew my mind 20 years ago when this question was asked. He had the insight to recognize the CANTE MELODY in Paco’s first falseta, the clear indicator despite a cantaor singing something different that he composed for the same track.

That's fascinating. Are there any other "indicators" that mark this song as a tientos? Or is the cante melody in the first falseta the only one?

Cante is the BASIS of the palos, and unless you are fusing non typical compas (ex: Fandango por Soleá), you don’t need any thing else really. Cante melody+chords that are used to accompany it+compas (tempo and meter)…it is all there pretty much. Obviously he takes it in a modern new direction after the initial statement of the FORMAL STRUCTURE. And the tuning as explained, is unique, however not unheard of to use different tonalities for traditional palos.

You know, a problem I encountered in flamencology is the misguided view that the Fandango “copla”, which is defined by the melody and its chords, ie the FORMAL STRUCTURE, is just some nice little added music section, take it or leave it….rather than the main link to the other song forms in the flamenco family. Instead there is much discussion about the “stuff” that goes between the coplas, showing concordance to the old “ritornellos” of the baroque era (scarlatti etc) and guitar “filler” falsetas and THAT junk (I would call it “fluff”) is the formal basis of the music that has evolved and constitutes what “fandangos” actually is. This is simply wrong (with exception to the WORD as a title), and the same can be said, more or less, about ANY flamenco palo where the falsetas dominate the length of the piece. If there is not cante, nor an instrumental falseta that traces out the cante…then it is just the filler falsetas normally used to book end letras, that are being strung together to make a musical “piece”. Imagine a Van Halen cover band where you only string together similar tempo guitar solos into medley “pieces”, ignoring all the verses and choruses, with the David Lee Roth look-alike just dancing around and making cat screeches and karate kicks without singing a word. The audience would be like “huh???”.

Case in point is Manolo Sanlucar Granaina transported to a new tonality (C# from traditional B). He deliberately plays the melody of the media Granaina at some point, as a way to properly define the formal structure. Without it, the falsetas are simply any cante Levante you want. So Paco’s modern piece defined the palo at the start…the rest is “fluff”.